Three babies — all under six months old — were just hospitalized with botulism after drinking the same brand of infant formula. Nara Organics Whole Milk Organic Powdered Infant Formula was just recalled by the FDA after infants in California, Pennsylvania, and Washington got sick in April and May. These are some of the most vulnerable people in the country, and parents who thought they were making a safe, healthy choice ended up in the emergency room. That is a failure our government should not be able to walk away from quietly.
Parents shouldn't have to become food safety investigators just to feed their babies. The FDA caught this — eventually — but families deserve to know whether the agency had what it needed to catch it sooner, and whether the inspection and testing systems for infant formula are actually strong enough to prevent the next outbreak. After the 2022 formula shortage, Congress promised parents that baby formula safety would be taken seriously. This outbreak is a test of whether that promise meant anything.
I'm asking you to push for a Congressional inquiry into how this outbreak happened, whether the FDA has enough resources and staff to properly monitor infant formula manufacturers, and what needs to change so parents can trust that the formula on store shelves is safe. Families should not have to wonder whether the food they're feeding their newborns could send them to the hospital.
